Notable:
No longer is Hiroomi Takizawa the lone Japanese skier at WX. Masayuki Akiba, another fast and furious bonsai warrior, qualified for WX '03 at the Paul Mitchell X-Qualifier at Northstar-at-Tahoe, CA in early January 2003--posting the 3rd fastest qualifying time. Akiba skied on the Japanese National Team and raced on the World Cup circuit.

Quote:
Fellow WX competitor, Hiroomi Takizawa said that when he was growing up he looked up to Akiba, who was already on the Japanese National Team. "When we met first time, I was 14. He [Masayuki] was already good skier, and I was junior high school. He was like my dream, I wanted to be him."